i for an i

"i for an i" inverses the "tourist information" institute and creates an alternative, personal and bilateral process, where the foreigner becomes the host, and the local- the visitor. It is our effort, as guests, to achieve some intimacy with a city we only know through maps and tourist guides. And it is an opportunity for the local inhabitants to re-see their city through our foreign eyes. The project started with a tourist information stand at the Kornhausplatz, where collected information from passers by, who where asked to recommend us sites that have personal meanings for them. During the following weeks our city strolls where defined by these recommendations. At the end of the process, in a special event (in March 2005), the info givers, who incidentally visited our stand, gathered again, as the arbitrary group who constructed our image of Bern - to collect their souvenirs. The additional outcome of this process is offered to the general public as an alternative city tour, tracing the collected stories.

"i for an i" inverses the "tourist information" institute and creates an alternative, personal and bilateral process, where the foreigner becomes the host, and the local- the visitor. It is our effort, as guests, to achieve some intimacy with a city we only know through maps and tourist guides. And it is an opportunity for the local inhabitants to re-see their city through our foreign eyes. The project started with a tourist information stand at the Kornhausplatz, where collected information from passers by, who where asked to recommend us sites that have personal meanings for them. During the following weeks our city strolls where defined by these recommendations. At the end of the process, in a special event (in March 2005), the info givers, who incidentally visited our stand, gathered again, as the arbitrary group who constructed our image of Bern - to collect their souvenirs. The additional outcome of this process is offered to the general public as an alternative city tour, tracing the collected stories.

On the the 2nd and 3rd of December 2004, we put the "i for an i" stand at Kornahusplatz, a central location in Bern. We collected recommendations from 34 passers-by, therefore- information about 34 sites.each visitor filled up a questionnaire, and was photographed with us, as our souvenir of their visit to our temporary 'territory'.

On the the 2nd and 3rd of December 2004, we put the "i for an i" stand at Kornahusplatz, a central location in Bern. We collected recommendations from 34 passers-by, therefore- information about 34 sites.each visitor filled up a questionnaire, and was photographed with us, as our souvenir of their visit to our temporary 'territory'.

In the following three months we visited the 34 sites, filmed and recorded them, created unique souvenirs of each place, as well as the final product, a CDRom that offers our interpretation of the places we visited.500 copies of the CDRom were available for distribution to the wider public, inhabitants and visitors in Bern, while the personal souvenirs were handed to the people who gave us the information about the different locations, during a final event at PROGR.

In the following three months we visited the 34 sites, filmed and recorded them, created unique souvenirs of each place, as well as the final product, a CDRom that offers our interpretation of the places we visited.500 copies of the CDRom were available for distribution to the wider public, inhabitants and visitors in Bern, while the personal souvenirs were handed to the people who gave us the information about the different locations, during a final event at PROGR.

The 34 personal souvenirs

The 34 personal souvenirs

The CD-Rom cover

The CD-Rom cover

Info

i fo an i was produced by PROGR, zentrum für kulturproduktion in Bern, in the frame of an artist residency.copies of the CD tour are available upon demand (as swf file or as a physical CD)